As i watch this 24 yr old 10 year practitioner perform his kata, I knew he was gonna be a problem during the fighting part of the tournament. Knowing that I grew more and more excited of being here, but im going to fast lemme start from the beginning……………

I woke up around 7 AM to a voicemail by one of my friends John. He told me he was already at John Jay(because he left his Gi there) and was making sure we was still gonna link up to head to the bronx. Well thank god I took a shower the night before, cuz I would have to rush over there. The night before was my last day of work and I had a blast, and was kinda sad I had to leave to suddenly but I knew I was making the smart choice so i’ll be there again in May if i don’t find something better along the way. I only had 4 hours of sleep but I could manage. Besides today was a huge day. Day of the Leon Wallace Major Tournament

So much for me getting a real head start. I didn’t reach John Jay to meet him until 8:40 and we were expected to be deep in the Bronx by 10 AM. Baychester Ave turned out to be deeper in the Bronx than I would’ve liked and it seemed our trip was taking forever, from the long walk through 42nd street times square searching for the shuttle to connect to Grand Central, to the long walk up hills after arriving at Baychester. We immediately saw people with Martial arts jackets and duffel bags so we knew we were in the right area. The wind was suddenly ferocious though. We was practically blocking our faces throughout the the walk and it seemed to gain gain more power the closer we got to the school, I was starting to think someone cast a spell to test us or something with my wild imagination.. We eventually reach the school and then I saw how crowded the place was. Commotion everywhere. People practicing their forms, Coaches giving their students last minute tips, children waiting anxiously for their turn. I realized that even though we were a few minutes behind 10, the tournament was far from starting, and after looking at the division line up(age and rank), I wasn’t gonna perform until the afternoon, so we basically rushed for nothing. I met up with my team members and we was anxiously waiting for our time to shine, while making last minute strategies etc etc.

Some came with friends and family. I had one friend that shown up surprisingly to the tournament who im very thankful for the support, but I also knew I was with my dojo members and it was a comforting feeling. I also got to see some familiar faces of senior black belts who used to study at John Jay, so it was nice to be within the community. The gym was somewhat big but not huge since it was only a junior high school and as i watched the divisions i realized that aside from the usual kata and fighting division, they were also hosting weapons and self defense divisions as well. I spent time watching the kids and teens do their thing and also practice what i had to do.

After the 15 to 17 year olds went to their rings I was finally able to scope out my competition in the 18-34 division. About 13 other people…………..wow i have to compete against 13 other people, now that was exciting, two in particular i felt would be a problem. The first one I introduced myself to was 24 year old Black, been in martial arts for about 10 years, black belt in other styles, seemed very knowledgeable and used to these tournaments. This was only my 2nd, so I know I had a lot to deal with. It didn’t help that my division had a few people from the same Dojo with them. Here I was by myself but that thrilled me even more. All of my group members already did their events. Our goal was to get at least 4 trophies to bring back. One of the girls won first place in kata and fighting as she stated ” I’m gonna tear her ass apart” and that she did lol. John won first place kata, and I think the brown belts won first place kata and fighting. I’m not sure who though, so we already did more than enough.

First division was the katas, something i’m not too crazy about, but it was very interesting to see how people expressed themselves. The 24year old was very aggressive and fast in his kata’s. Certain people had very quick kata’s. Mines was based on slow, yet powerful breathing kata’s Not sure that went too well with the judges though cuz my score was more towards the middle of the pack, Same girl stated they were hating on me and we should steal the trophies and hope sensei doesn’t find out, but I rather not have to face off 100’s of martial artist , it’s not worth it so I just waited for the fighting. Meanwhile, a vet who lost his right leg, and had his left arm in a slang, performed a kata and it was so beautiful we gave him a standing ovation and he definitely deserved 1st place for his black belt division and I was happy he got it.

But now I had to focus on my fighting division. With the 14 of us all fighting, I knew they were gonna compare us by height. I realized that my first match was gonna be a tough one when I saw myself paired up with the 11 year old veteran. 18 year old Latino dude. He got 3rd place in the kata division and I realized he had very good kicks although he seemed a little slow in his movements. I was trying to size him up when one of my dojo members told me they were all leaving together, so besides John , everyone else left. That was cool though cuz I was way too pumped and was ready to fight. I watched the first 5 fights, the fifth one being the 24yr old, his speed definitely worked to his advantage and he advanced to the next round, though I feel some times the other guy scored on him but i guess the judges didn’t see it, which can be a problem with point sparring especially what one of my training partners mentioned during training

“You got to score first, and make sure the judges see it, because you can be better but they can still win by not doing anything so be careful of that”

While i was processing that I was already up to fight, and facing my opponent. We bowed and then our fight began (click the link to check it on youtube)

His first point was very quick and then i realized he did have some speed and also some reach as well. I would not be bullied though , and i saw I could punch him, because my kicks weren’t high enough for fear I would blast him in the face and would get DQ’d for it. Unfortunately some of my hits weren’t getting called and the others were seen as warnings so I spent some time blocking him and parrying hoping for an opening and then I got one and scored… We fought some more and then we were stopped by a sudden announcement for a raffle ticket or firedrill, i cant remember but I went to speak to John to ask if some of my hits were connecting cuz I was confused. I also used the interval to see what his weakness was and it seemed he had trouble defending a barrage of attacks, so now i had a strategy and it was time for part two of the fight

we bowed and fought some more (click link to see the conclusion)

I have to admit I was very surprised that my last kick was not called, I had it set up and everything because I knew the punch was coming and though it was a risk, I connected first in my opinion. I would later find out that he was a point sparring champion and though I lost because of that last point where my kick wasn’t called, I’m glad that i did give him a tough fight and I know it’s not really personal. It just takes a little bit of luck when it comes to Judge decisions so I should probably pursue full contact tournaments but no matter what I had fun fighting. I waited to watch the other matchups. The 24 yr old lost his second match and the guy I fought lost in the finals against a smaller and much faster guy. I don’t think anyone seen that coming but it was definitely interesting. I hope to see some of them in the next tournament. On my way out I seen some flyers for more upcoming tournaments and i grabbed a few and plan to find out more about them.

I was a little sore on my way home and haven’t eaten for a few hours but I didn’t care and it didn’t seem to bother me. I was extremely fired up still and wish I could do this all the time. The martial arts world is very important to me and I plan to dive deeper and deeper as I finally feel a sense of belonging. My training, the performances, fights, and fellow fighters i meet along the way gives me more inspiration and makes for a wonderful experience and connections all around. This is where I belong